No Place for Chatter: Abida Parveen

Poetry of Shah Hussain

So much to love about this selection (Golden Collection number 5, according to the Rawalpindi-based music shop from which it was procured). 

Each song is an explication of the Unseen Reality.  Of the Lover. Of Rab. Of Love. Of the Master and Lord.

Words filled with worlds of the heart and soul.  Sung by the burly voiced Abida Parveen.

Here are some of the words you’ll discover here.

Mujhe bekhudi yeh tu ne, bhali chaashni chakhai

Kisi aarzo ki dil mein, nahi ab rahi smaai

You have given me such a taste that pales all worldliness.

In this heart filled with submission, no desire remains!

Na hazar hai nay khatar hai, na reja hai nay dua hai. 

Na khayal-e-bandagi hai, na tamanna-e-khudai

Neither distance nor fear... neither hope nor prayer,

neither thoughts of servitude, nor desire of godliness.

Na maqaam-e-guftugu hai, na mehal-e-justujuu hai,

Na wohan hawaas puhnchain, na khirad ko hai rasaai

No place for exchange of words... no occasion for further quest,

Where neither consciousness reaches, nor thoughts reach its realm.

Na makeen hai nay makaan hai, na zameen hai nay zabaan hai. 

Dil-e-benawa ne meray, wahan chhawni hai chhaii

Where no one resides.. neither habitation exist

This wandering heart has come to camp there.

Na visaal hai na hijraan, na suroor hai na gham hai. 

Jise kaheyye khwab-e-ghaflat, so woh neend mujh ko aayee.

Where there is neither union...nor separation

neither sorrow... nor joy

What is said becomes an endless oblivion,

I have entered in such holy suspension!

Raba mera hal da mehram tu

Andar tu hain /bahir tu han

Tu hain tana /tu hay bana /sabh kuch meran tu

Kahe Hussain faqir namana main nahi sab tu.

O God you are aware of my true condition, as you are within me and outside of me and present everywhere. You are the Cause and Creator of everything.  I have no existence without you

As you wake this day, play this and let the spirit of the poetry penetrate your soul.

            Track Listing:

            01 Main Nara-e-Mastana

02 Hum Ko Ya Dar Dar

03 Mein Hosh Mein Tera Hun

04 Khamosh Rah Kar

05 Takleef-e-Hijar de Gayi

06 Mujhe Bekhud

07 Raba Mere Haal Da

08 Sohna Sajan Ghar Aaya

here

Oceans of the Divine: Sufi Chants

People often ask me, what is it about the Islamic world that you love?  Well, I could name any number of things but one of the most beautiful, and right near the top of the list, would be al adhan or azaan. The 5 times-a-day reminder to the Faithful to remember God and come to prayer.  The mad clatter and clack of the day inevitably disguises the mid-morning, midday calls but to wake to the melodic incantation of God’s Greatness and the Finality of His Prophet Muhammad is one of the most sublime moments of any day.

While not generally classified as ‘music’, the azaan has always struck me as the quintessential song. Because it’s intent and subject digs into the deepest part of the human spirit. Because in the hands of a skilled muezzin (the one who calls the Faithful to prayer) it is a 2-3 minute opportunity for musical improvisation and vocal artistry.  One of the experiences I will cherish forever is waiting in anticipation  in the month of Ramadhan for the sun to set (and the day’s fast to break) while listening to an extended a cappella recitation to the Glory of God by an impassioned disciple of Allah.  Even Mullah Omar would not object to this purest and most beautiful music.

The keynote of Sufism is the union, the identification of God and man. The highest good to which Sufis can attain is the annihilation of the actual—to forget that they have a separate existence, and lose themselves in the Divinity as a drop of water is lost in the ocean. The Sufi masters throughout the years explain this concept is many poetic ways.  Here are but two:

There came one and knocked at the door of the Beloved. And a voice answered and said, “Who is there?’

The lover replied, “It is I.”

“Go hence,” returned the voice; “there is no room within for thee and me.”

Then came the lover a second time and knocked, and again the voice demanded, “Who is there?”          

He answered, “It is Thou.”

“Enter,” said the voice. “for I am within.”

            Jalaludin Rumi

There was a frog which sat upon the shores of the ocean and ceaselessly day and night sang its praise. “As far as mine eyes can see,” he said, “I behold nothing but thy boundless surface.”

Some fish swimming in the shallow water heard the frog’s song, and were filled with a desire to find that wonderful ocean of which he spoke, but go where they would they could not discover it.  At last, in the course of their search, they fell into a fisherman’s net, and as soon as they were drawn out of the water they saw beneath them the ocean for which they had been seeking. With a leap they returned to it.

            Jami

Here is a collection of Islamic chants and sufi music from Egypt.

Start and end your day with this and listen as often as possible.

            Track Listing:

            01 Call To Prayer (Al-Adhan)

02 Koranic Cantiallation (Tajwid al-Quran Al-Karim)

03 O Lord There Is No one Save You (Ma Li Fi L-Wujudi Siwaka)

04 The Hearts Of The Initiated ((Qulubu L-'arifin

05 Hadrat Zikr

06 Beautiful Names Of God (Asma'u Hahi L'husna)

07 Be Mindful Of God's Majesty (Udhkurha Wa-Nta Mashi, La Tulhika Amthalaha)

08 Guide Us To The Prophet In Purity (bi-l-Mustafa Balligh Magasidana)

here

A Good and Strong Heart: The Wadali Brothers

Maulana Rumi

Growing up, the world was full of rigid boxes upon which labels were plastered like baggage tags.  Hindu! Muslim! Sikh! Christian! The labels were used threateningly or apologetically or defensively.

The first inkling that the boxes were not as rigid as I perceived them to be came on a visit to Agra in the early 80s. In one of those absolutely unremarkable encounters that should be long erased from the memory, I found myself in the room of a cheap hotel. Sharing the room were a bunch of local people who I seem to remember as being our auto-rickshaw driver, his sidekick and a bearer from the hotel who had decided to hang out with us after delivering a pot of tea and some TBJ (toast butter jam, that staple of western breakfasts in India).

At some point the auto-rickshaw driver (or his sidekick, I’m not sure) proudly pulled out a picture of an elderly man with slightly closed eyes. “This is my guru,” he told me. He told me his name, “Pir So and so”.

“Are you Muslim?” I asked

“Hindu,” came the reply, “but it doesn’t matter. Pir baba has a very good and strong heart. Everyone comes to him for blessings. You come too! Many Christians follow him as well.”

His heart is good and strong! 

I love that.

As I write I’m listening to the Wadali Brothers sing some poetry of Ghulam Farid that great poet of the Punjabi soul.  His heart was strong and good too! For Punjabis, regardless of their religious allegiance revere him and hold his mystical poetry true to their own hearts.

The Wadalis are siblings. Puranchand, the elder was a wrestler who also had some talent as a singer even studying at the feet of the giant Ustad Bade Ghulam Ali Khan for some time. Pyarelal, the younger brother, was famous in the districts surrounding Amritsar where they lived, for playing Lord Krishna in the annual folk retelling of his birth, known as the Rasleela.

But so deep and mixed up are the folk traditions of Punjab that when it came to pursuing a singing career they gravitated immediately to qawwali the distinctly Islamic musical form of northern India.  Their career did not start well. They were rejected from appearing on stage at local musical jamboree apparently, because they didn’t ‘look right’.   Whatever that means I don’t know, perhaps the organisers of the festival themselves were not used to Hindus singing Muslim music. The Wadalis probably didn’t have beards or wear topis.  Who knows?

But a few decades on, and now moving toward the latter end of their lives, they are well established and loved for their kafi and qawwali singing. Carrying on the fine tradition of listening to and searching for the good and strong heart whatsoever body it happens to beat within.

            Track Listing:

            01 Tere Ishq Nachaya (Baba Bulleh Shah)

02 Aa Mil Yaar (Baba Bulleh Shah)

03 Sone Yaar (Ghulam Farid)

04 Ni Main Hune Suneya (Baba Bulleh Shah)

05 Bulleya Ki Jana Main Kaun (Baba Bulleh Shah)

06 Saval Morh Moharan (Baba Bulleh Shah)

07 Alaf Allah (Baba Sultan Bahoo)

here

Model Sufi: Ali Zafar

Never judge a book by its cover. Or, in this case, a CD.

Take a look at tonight’s feature and I wouldn’t be surprised if you clicked on to another blog or simply through your hands up in exasperation.  Looks like a chunk of Pakistani beefcake. Perhaps a refugee from a Bollywood Boy Band. But nothing worth my time. 

But hold on. Look beyond ever-so-cool stare (yes, Mr Ali Zafar is a model, among many other things) and give the lad a fair go.

Within this very unlikely package lies some very unexpected music.  I came across Ali Zafar in one of the Coke Studio discs I have lying about the shelves but had forgotten his name. After listening to Jhoom (2011) several times I googled the guy and found the following (paraphrased and condensed by your’s truly):

·       Ali is 32 years old

·       Born and raised in Lahore

·       Ali is aka ‘Prince of Pop’

·       Studied at the National College of Arts and did quick portraits for passersby at one of Lahore’s pricey hotels

·       Starred in couple of Pakistani movies before being sucked up into the Bollywood dream machine.

·       Everything he touches seems to turn to gold. His movies are cult classics and win awards.

·       He has won more awards than an 80 year war hero.

·       Voted 5^th sexiest Asian man in the world (2011)

·       He’s got a voice as pure as the Indus river at its source.

·       He’s been an actor, artist, composer, singer and model.

Ali Zafar

The sobriquet ‘Prince of Pop’ rings true, for like Prince (or the artist once known as such) Ali Zafar composes, sings, arranges and plays all his own music.  He’s got an amazing range of styles and is comfortable with every idiom from sufi to folk and rock’n roll to R&B. His arrangements are tasteful and fit the spiritual aura of this collection of sufi-inspired songs.  You’d never guess it by looking at the cover photo but this is record full of classy, contemporary, innovative interpretations of Bulleh Shah and Ghalib to mention just a couple of luminaries.

It is one of my favorite records of the week.  Really really nice.

Really!

            Track Listing:

01.  Jhoom

02.  Tu Jaaney Na

03.  Jab Se Dekha Tujh Ko

04.  Jee Dhoondta Hai

05.  Koi Umeed

06.  Jaan-e-man

07.  Nahin re Nahin

08.  Yar Dadhi Ishq

09.  Dastan-e-Ishq

10.  Allah Hu

11.  Jhoom (R&B mix)

12.  Dastan-e-Ishq (Dhol version)

Here.